How To Improve Wrist Shot Accuracy

How often do you have a perfect scoring opportunity staring you right in the face? There is a nice open spot that the goalie is not covering so you pull the puck back, take aim, and fire… and you miss the net, or put the puck right in the goalies chest. This unfortunate non-goal did not have to happen, but it is happening to hockey players around the world. Please help stop non-goals from happening by practicing your wrist shot accuracy for a few hours a week, and sharing this article with friends.

If you have missed that perfect scoring opportunity, you are not alone, but do not worry I am here to help. This article will show you a number of ways that you can drastically improve your aim. If you are a new player you will see the proper way to aim, and take a wrist shot. If you are an experienced hockey player you may find a few ways that you can tweak your wristshot for even better accuracy. If you follow the steps below, you should be snipe’n those corners in no time! Enough small talk, lets get’r’done.

Look at where you are shooting!

Yes you may have heard this a million times before, but that is because it works, and still some players (even players in men’s leagues who have been playing for years) do not look at where they shoot. This very simple RULE should be the first thing you practice. Scan the net, look for a spot to shoot, and then go on to the steps below.

Note: Some players look down because they want to make sure the puck is on the right spot on their blade. If this is your problem then practice getting a feel for the puck on the blade of your stick. You can do this (when you are practicing) by looking up at the net, stickhandling the puck for a second and then guessing where the puck is on the blade of your stick. Now look down and see if you were right. Repeat this process until you are right every time. Now you will know where the puck is, just by stickhandling.

Point with your feet!

But Jeremy, I take a wrist shot with my hands and arms, what do my feet have to do with anything?

I am glad you asked! Your feet guide you in the direction you are skating, but they also help guide where you are shooting. If you are aiming for the right side of the net, then the toe of your foot should be pointed to the right side of the net. Which foot? The foot of whichever leg you are transferring your weight onto (see video below for an example)

Why does this help with accuracy? If you align your body properly before you take the shot, then chances are your body will follow the proper alignment and your accuracy will improve. Pointing your foot also improves power because it helps you transfer energy in the direction of the shot.

Track the trajectory of the blade of your stick

Oh boy, that sounds confusing! Well it is actually quite simple. Take a few shots and watch the path that the blade of your stick follows, now draw an imaginary line from where you started shooting to where the blade left the shooting surface. If you put an arrow at the end of that line, it should be pointing at where you were shooting.

Follow Through

When taking a wrist shot the follow through is important for both power, and accuracy. I have already told you how to get more power from your wrist shot, so I will focus on accuracy now.

Improving your accuracy with your follow through is fairly simple, follow through high to shoot high, follow through low to shoot low. As easy as that sounds, there are players who forget.

There is one more trick that really helps you aim the puck. We know about shooting high, and low, but what about aiming left and right? Assuming you are looking at where you want to shoot, aligning your feet properly and you are ready to shoot there is only one point left.

Point at where you want the puck to go

This is another trick that involves the follow through. When you are following through with your wristshot you want to point the end of blade or the “toe” of the blade at where you want the puck to go. Why does pointing the blade help with accuracy when you do it after the puck leaves the blade of the stick?

When you point the blade you actually have to start pointing it during your shot. Right when the puck begins to come off of the ice, you should begin to flick and roll your wrists over. Flicking your wrists while rolling them over helps with accuracy and power but many players do not do this properly.

When you are rolling your wrists you are keeping the puck snug to the blade of the stick, and guiding it in the right direction. Also pointing your blade at the end of the shot, will remind you to roll your wrists at the right time. If done properly, at the end of the shot the blade of your stick should be pointing at where the puck went.

For your viewing pleasure, I have put this video together to help with your accuracy, and help you score more goals.

I hope these tips have helped you improve your wrist shot, if you have any tips of your own you can add them below.

This helped I was having trouble during summer league hitting the net and scoring and my junior team started and at opening night I had two goals and an assist. Both goals were thanks to you it helped me right away. Thanks!

after waching this video i tried using your tips in practice but every time it woul end up hitting the glass or go higher so i tried to shoot low but then they would go wide is the any other tips you could give that would help.

Well I guess you are getting some height and shooting low, you just need to dial it in. I don’t expect anyones aim to be perfect right after watching the videos but you can get some good tips to practice. It will take a while before you can really snipe, but as long as you realize what you are doing right and wrong you will be able to improve. I have another video about shooting and aiming low that might help, but the key is to keep on practicing.

Hi I have a question about my wrist shot accuracy. My wrist shot is powerful I can get air but it only goes in the middle like high
low left and right I want to get it close to top shelf . So is there any thing I can do to get my accuracy better?

Hi Jeremy – thanks for the video, it’s really informative. I’m a bit of a noob when it comes to hockey and it looks like it will be of a great assistance to me.

I figure skated for 13 years but then turned to (depending on how you see it) the “dark/light side”. My skating skills are fine, but I really want to improve on my shooting and puck handling. This video seems like it will do the trick, however I want to know whether you need to put anything on the ground – like the white board you have – in order to practice? If so, what do you use and/or recommend using?

Hey Nick, I definitely recommend the hockey shooting pad. My favourite one is the roll-up shooting pad and you can get them at Hockey Shot. Grab our coupon to get $10 off your order too. Basically the shooting pad will give the puck something smooth to slide on and also protect the blade of your stick from wearing down. You can use the shooting pad to practice stickhandling and shooting, I use mine all the time!

Any advice for elevating and speeding up an elevated shot? I’m 43, never played hockey, evidently have a nicenatural slapshot, but what I REALLY want to do is snap that sucker just under the crossbar, or into the upper corners at will, from pretty much anywhere (within reason)

You really just have to practice a lot and your shot will get harder and more accurate. If you are interested in the snapshot I have a video on how to take a snapshot and I have a few tips for getting a nice hard one and getting the technique right. For getting more power just make sure you are using your whole body, push off with your back leg, pull the puck hard towards the net, push in with your shoulder, use your core muscles to add toque, and then in the release really push with your bottom hand and pull with your top

[…] but you can actually improve your slapshot accuracy with your feet. I mentioned this in the how to improve wrist shot accuracy article and the same is true for taking a slapshot. When you are skating, you point your feet where […]

Thanks for this great tip. For some reason I have a lot of problems with getting both the slap and the wrist shot to have any accuracy or speed. I’m going to try this out at today’s (actually tonight’s) practice.